


The Mystery at St Brendan's

by LestradeIsBae



Category: Original Work
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:00:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 22,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27439975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LestradeIsBae/pseuds/LestradeIsBae
Summary: Annaliese O'Ceallaigh is a student at a private boarding school in Ireland. She lives a happy life, enjoying school and spending much of her free time helping out at the school's church St Brendan's. She is close with the Minister of St Brendan's, her God-Father Cal McCluskey. Following Annaliese's 15th birthday, a bizarre series of events begin to occur. The community of St Brendan's is lost as to who may be responsible for the increasingly worrying crimes that are committed within the school. Annaliese finds herself caught in the middle of this mystery, and it is up to her and Cal to restore the peace to St Brendan's, and uncover the mystery. One thing is for certain - this isn't your average mystery. There's something unorthodox going on here.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is an original story written by me. The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this production are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), places, buildings, and products is intended or should be inferred. 
> 
> I wrote this in April 2020 during the lockdown. It was very loosely inspired by a dream that I had. I really hope you enjoy this work. If you do, please leave Kudos! Feel free to share to other sites (as long as you give me credit, of course!)

“Happy Birthday Annaliese!” my house group shout as party poppers go off and streamers go flying towards me.

The whole lounge is decorated with banners and balloons saying ‘HAPPY 15TH BIRTHDAY!” and there is a stack of presents wrapped in fuchsia pink paper on the coffee table.

“Thank you so much” I say, my best friend Fiona running up to hug me.

The whole house group are up – Fiona, Aoife, Brooklyn and even Shannon, who has bullied me since my first day here at St Brendan’s Church School.

Mrs McGeary, our house manager, gives me a hug too and goes to make us all pancakes with whipped cream and strawberries, my favourite treat.

This is my first birthday boarding at school, but I’ve heard all about how much effort is put into our birthdays, as Fiona and the other girls who have boarded for a while have told me all about it.

We eat our pancakes as I begin to open my presents. First is a stunning pair of pale pink pointe shoes, which are from the whole house group. I take dance classes here at school and at the local dance centre which I’ve been a part of since I was just two years old. Ballet is my favourite style, but I also take jazz and contemporary classes. The second present is from Fiona and it’s a box of preserved red roses for display. I hug her.

“These are lovely, thank you so much” I say.

The third present is from Aoife and it’s a butterfly mindfulness colouring book. The fourth present is from Brooklyn and it’s a glittery ballet dancer ornament. And the fifth is Shannon’s present, which I’m slightly worried about, but it’s just a box of HARIBO love-heart sweets. Hopefully she hasn’t poisoned them. And there’s one more present, wrapped in baby blue paper.

“This one’s from your parents” Mrs McGeary says.

My parents are both doctors and they are off in South East Asia doing missionary work, which is why I’m at boarding school. They didn’t want to take me along with them as the area they are staying in has been experiencing high levels of violence and poverty, so they decided it was best for me to stay at school in Ireland and become a boarding student. I was, and still am, completely happy with this decision. I love my hometown and school and all of my friends.

The most important thing in my life though is my church. It’s called St Brendan’s, the same as school, and it’s based just outside the school site. All of us from school go there on a Sunday and on religious holidays, and many of us also go to the youth groups in the week as well. I help out with the toddlers during the Sunday Service every fortnight and I also do the children’s work quite often. The best thing about my Church is our Minister, Cal McCluskey. He is one of my parent’s best friends, who they’ve known since they were in school. He’s my Godfather and the person I trust most in the world. I spend much of my free time helping him out with writing sermons and deciding on activities for the children’s work. You’ll often find me in his office at the church, reading for hours about the history of our faith and asking questions. Cal is my next of kin whilst Mum and Dad are away and so I often go around to his house during the week when I need time away from school or when I simply just want to talk. Cal is the best person to talk to in the world. He’s pretty socially awkward but he has so much wisdom and always knows the right thing to say. We often have Sunday lunch together on Sundays and it’s the highlight of my week.

I open up Mum and Dad’s present and it’s a beautiful gold locket. It feels hot in my palm, like I’m holding a hot rock. It’s intricately detailed with patterns and swirls. I feel odd all of a sudden. I don’t know how to describe the feeling. My eyes tear up slightly.

“Thank you so much everyone” I say.

I squeeze the locket, a cold shiver running through my body.


	2. Chapter 2

As soon as school’s out, I’m rushing back to Canterbury House to get changed. I’m going over to Cal’s house and then coming back to Canterbury to have takeaway pizza with the girls before going to church for our youth Bible study group Engage.

I get dressed into tight dark blue jeans and a floral dress shirt, with my cream flower Dr Martens.

“See you later Miss” I say to Mrs McGeary as I head out the door.

“Have fun pet” she replies.

I skip across the school grounds, the birds cooing in the trees. The school is pretty big, Victorian style, with stained glass windows, a swimming pool and spacious grounds. It’s the best school in the world and I couldn’t be happier with my life.

Cal lives right next to the Church, just outside the school grounds, in a beautiful cottage. He lives on his own, aside from his midnight black cat called Ash.

I go through the gate to his back garden and he’s out there with a lemonade all ready for me and some of my favourite snacks.

“Happy birthday” Cal says, hugging me.

He’s not usually much of a hugger but he doesn’t mind if it’s me. There’s a present on the table wrapped in deep purple paper.

“Thank you” I say, taking a few sips of my lemonade and sitting down at the table, running my hand over the present to get a feel for the shape.

I have no clue what it could be.

I open it up slowly and I see watercolour paints… and new brushes… pastels… and a new sketchpad.

“Oh, these are lovely!” I say. “Thank you so much”.

“You’re very welcome” Cal says. “What else did you get today?”

“Well… my parents sent me a locket, which is back at the house cos I don’t trust myself not to catch it on something and break it. It’s really, really nice… and the whole house group got me some new pointe shoes, Fiona got me some preserved roses, Aoife got me a colouring book, like one of those mindfulness ones, and Brooklyn got me a ballet dancer ornament, and Shannon got me some Haribo’s”.

Cal laughs. “Typical Shannon”

“They were all in a box as well rather than the packet so I’m kind of worried she licked them all”.

We laugh and have some snacks. There’s party rings, Hula Hoops, chewy pencils and red laces.

“I want to try out my paints right now” I say, opening up the watercolours and smoothing out the first piece of paper in the sketchpad.

“I’m going to paint you” I say to Cal.

“That’s a waste of paper” Cal says, but he sits still and lets me paint him.

In the nicest possible way, he looks a bit like a mysterious sorcerer from a mystical book. He’s got longish dark hair and he looks very serious when he wears his robes on a Sunday, but today he’s just wearing jeans and a Beatles t-shirt. He’s also got really high cheekbones and a strong jaw. Some people think he looks a bit intimidating when they first meet him but he’s so socially awkward and nerdy that that impression fades quickly.

I do my signature at the bottom of the paper.

“Here you go”.

Cal takes the paper from me and frowns.

“Do I really look like that?” he asks.

“Yeah, you should look in the mirror more often” I say, laughing.

“No thank you” he replies, jokingly.

I stay at Cal’s for a few hours and then go back to Canterbury House. The pizza arrives and we put on some of my favourite music – Anne-Marie, Taylor Swift, Little Mix and Rita Ora. My parents’ phone at half six and I speak to them for a while.

“Where did you get the locket from? It’s lovely” I ask.

“A lady in the village gave it to us. She handmade it. They make all sorts of lovely stuff round here. I’ll definitely pick some other stuff up for you for when we see you next. I wish we could be with you today” Mum says.

“Me too. But I’ll see you soon” I reply.

“We can’t wait” Dad says.

“We love you so much” Mum says. “Have an amazing rest of the day and we’ll see you soon”

“Love you too Mum. Love you Dad”.

I hang up the phone and put my boots and jacket on. I practise a few pirouettes on the landing and Shannon scoffs at me. I ignore her, as I always try to do, and hurry downstairs.

Fiona and Aoife are waiting for me at the door. Going to Engage is one of the highlights of my week. Cal and a lady called Susanna run it. Susanna is quite bubbly and exciting and always organises great activities and games for us. She’s great at bringing the Bible stories to life and I often work with her to help produce plays and puppet shows for the little ones. Cal is much less bubbly, but he’ll explain the Bible in a way that makes sense and we always leave our sessions feeling that we’ve really learnt something.

Fiona, Aoife and I walk through the school grounds. Fiona’s boyfriend Josh, who also goes to Engage, comes over to us.

“Hi love” Fiona says, and they kiss.

Sometimes I get jealous of Fiona for having a boyfriend. I’ve never had a boyfriend in my life. No boys have ever even asked me out. In fact, I’m kind of jealous of Fiona in a lot of ways. She’s taller than me, tall enough to be a model, and she’s got long, luscious, fiery red hair. Her parents are Irish but she was born in Florida and lived there till she was eleven and so she has a lovely American accent. All the boys in our school are obsessed with her, not just Josh. I know I shouldn’t really be jealous as I’m satisfied with everything I’ve got. We speak about envy a lot in Engage and in our Sunday Services, but it’s not always easy to control.

It takes about five minutes to walk across the school grounds to the church. We go upstairs to the Youth Room where there’s games consoles, a pool table, a tuck shop and loads of comfy beanbags to chill out on. Fiona, Aoife and I sit together, scrolling through Fiona’s Instagram. There’s about 25 young people in total once everyone gets here.

Cal and Susanna do a session on Romans 12. It’s one of my favourite Bible passages, and Cal’s too. I especially love verse 21 – ‘Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good’. It helps me to know that although there is so much evil and hatred in the world, there is good in all of us and we can overcome all problems by following the example of Jesus.

Fiona, Aoife and I play pool for a bit and then Fiona plays Mario Kart with the boys, and Aoife and I play Just Dance. At the end of the session I always like to help pack up with Cal and Susanna and talk more about the Bible reading of the day. “I’ll see you guys at the house” I say to Fiona and Aoife as they head off.

“Annaliese, it’s your birthday, you don’t have to help” Cal says, but I do anyway.

I clear up all the rubbish and take the rubbish bag out to the large wheelie bin at the back of the church. I spend a few minutes downstairs in the church. I can never get enough of how beautiful it is. The stained-glass windows glow against the moonlight, the candles illuminate the architecture and there’s a sense of peace here that I don’t get anywhere else in the world. It truly is heavenly. I start to practice my dancing, doing arabesques and grand jete’s. I often do this when there’s no one around in church. I just start dancing and let the movement take me away. I don’t usually dance in the services as it would be a bit embarrassing, but sometimes on the Youth Nights we have a big worship party and we all jump around.

I hear clapping and I wobble on my turn, looking round to see Cal.

“I was wondering where you’d got to” he says.

“I do this every week. You just don’t usually catch me” I laugh.

“How did you find this evening?” Cal asks.

“It was great, as usual. I’m looking forward to doing that passage with the kids on Sunday”

“We’re all packed up upstairs now. Do you want me to walk you back to Canterbury?”

“Yeah please”.

I message Fiona to say I’m on my way back, so she’ll have a hot chocolate ready for me as she always does.

“Have you had a good day?” Cal asks.

“It’s been the best birthday ever. Thank you” I reply, linking his arm and hugging him slightly as we walk.

“Good. You deserve it”.

I hug him goodbye when we get to the house and then I go inside. The girls and I sit in front of the TV, watching episodes of Wizards of Waverly Place and drinking our hot chocolates with cream and marshmallows.

Then it’s bedtime and I go to my room and do some more painting to help me relax. I paint Fiona with her long red hair, sparkling blue eyes and perfect skin. Then I get into my fluffy pyjamas and burrow down under my duvet. I’m asleep within moments.


	3. Chapter 3

_I’m in the middle of nowhere, all alone. I’m searching for someone or something that looks familiar. “Mum? Dad?” I call out. “Cal? … Fiona? Aoife? Brooklyn?”. I’m scared. There are rustling noises all around me and my head turns rapidly, searching for the source of the noise. I’m running through the woodlands, stumbling over roots and rocks and falling to my knees. And then I come to a clearing. And Mum and Dad are here. And Cal is here. But they are all dead. I get to their sides, shaking them, begging them to wake up. But they won’t. And then a huge, glowing red being, some sort of demon, lunges out at me and all I can feel is pain, and all I can hear is the sound of my own screams._

I jolt awake, my heart racing. Just a dream. It was just a dream. I’m in my safe bed in Canterbury House in St Brendan’s. Fiona and Aoife and Brooklyn are just down the corridor… and Shannon, but that doesn’t exactly make me feel better. And Mrs McGeary is downstairs with Mr McGeary in their room.

I’m fine.

But my heart is still hammering.

I reach to my bedside table and have a drink from my bottle of water. I feel my locket and I pick it up. I haven’t worn it yet. I hold it in my hand, thinking of my parents. I hope they are ok. It does scare me to think of them so far away, potentially putting themselves in danger. I squeeze my locket, feeling a tremble run through my body, and I take deep breaths as I fall back to sleep.

I wake up feeling weird. I’ve got a headache and my stomach hurts. I wipe sweat away from my forehead. My locket is lying in the bed next to me and I pick it up and put it on my bedside table.

I pick up my phone and there’s a message from Fiona. I open the message and it’s a photo of her.

Naked.

I immediately click off, shaking my head as if that will get rid of the image from my mind. I’m assuming she didn’t mean to send that to me. I’m guessing she meant to send it to Josh… but would she do that?

I hear crying.

I get out of bed, putting on my slippers and I go out into the landing. Fiona is bawling and Mrs McGeary is hugging her.

I don’t know what to say.

I go to her side and put my hand on her shoulder.

“Have you seen it?” Shannon asks.

“It got sent to everyone” Brooklyn says.

I nod.

“I can’t find my phone anywhere, someone must have taken it, but who would have done that?” Fiona sobs.

I have a guess.

Shannon doesn’t hate Fiona like she hates me, but she’s never been particularly nice to her either.

I look at Shannon and she glares at me.

“What, you think it’s me, do you?” she asks.

“I don’t know” I reply.

“Well it’s not me. I haven’t got her phone” Shannon replies, anger rising in her voice.

“Alright girls, that’s enough” Mrs McGeary says. “It’s alright Fiona, we’ll get this sorted. You don’t need to worry”.

“I can’t go into school… everyone’s seen me” Fiona cries.

“It’s ok, I’m sure this counts as a reason to take a day off. We’ll speak to Mrs Haynes. Whoever did this will be in a lot of trouble” Mrs McGeary says.

I give Fiona a hug and we go to my room to talk. We sit down on my bed and Fiona cuddles my fluffy pillow, crying into it.

“I can’t believe someone sent it to everyone. Why would someone do this to me?”

“I don’t know… why did you have the photo on your phone?”

“I just wanted to feel attractive… I don’t know. I wasn’t intending to send it to anyone. I don’t know where my phone went. I’m sure I had it last night when I went to bed”

“I saw you with it last night. You definitely had it in the house”.

“Do you… do you think Shannon took it?”

“That would be my best guess… but I don’t know for sure”.

Fiona starts sneezing.

“Let me get you a tissue” I say, opening my chest of drawers next to my bed.

I take a step back.

Fiona’s phone is in there.

“Wait that’s…” Fiona reaches into my drawer and pulls out her phone. “It’s here, this is my phone…” she scrolls through it and sees the picture sent from her phone.

“What’s it doing in your room?” Fiona asks, backing away from me slightly.

“I don’t have a clue… it wasn’t me I swear… Shannon must have planted it in here to get at me”.

Fiona pauses, considering.

“That does sound like something she’d do… but what are we meant to do now? If I tell Mrs McGeary or Mrs Haynes that the phone was in your room, they’ll blame you. Would they actually believe Shannon took it from my room and then put it in your room?”

“I don’t know… I didn’t hear anything in the night. I don’t usually sleep so deeply that I wouldn’t be woken up by someone coming into my room”

“Yeah, I would usually wake up to that as well. But I didn’t hear anyone come into my room. But I definitely had my phone next to my bed when I went to sleep. I’m sure of it”.

Fiona looks me in the eye.

“Are you sure you didn’t take it? I don’t really believe you would, but I’m not going to hate you if you did” she says.

“I didn’t. I swear I didn’t. I would never do something like that to you”.

Fiona nods.

“I know. I guess we can’t prove it was Shannon. I’m just going to have to get on with it. I wish we had CCTV in the house like we do in school… so what are we going to tell Mrs McGeary?”.

I consider our options for a few moments. It doesn’t look good for me, but I know I didn’t take her phone.

“I don’t know. I’d like to think she’d trust that it wasn’t me who took it. But Shannon’s never stooped this low before… I don’t know”.

There’s a knock on my door.

“Come in” I say, before thinking.

Mrs McGeary opens the door. She sees the phone in Fiona’s hand.

“You’ve got your phone back?” Mrs McGeary asks, confused.

Fiona and I look at each other, not knowing what to say.

“That is your phone, right?” Miss asks.

“Yeah” Fiona replies.

“Where did you find it?” Miss asks.

I take a deep breath.

“It was in my drawer. I don’t know how it got there”

“I believe her, Miss. She wouldn’t do that to me. And she was surprised to find it in her drawer. I think Shannon took it and put it in here to try and blame Annaliese. She’s been bullying her for years. She hates that Annaliese has more friends than she does” Fiona says.

Mrs McGeary sighs.

“I’ll have a few words with Shannon. But girls I’ll need you to speak to Mrs Haynes. Sharing explicit images of a minor is a crime, regardless of who shared them. So, we’ll need to have a discussion”.

Mrs Haynes comes to speak to all of us and the Garda turn up too.

“We all need to understand how serious a situation this is” Mrs Haynes says. “I need to ensure everyone deletes that photo off of their phones”.

The Garda give us an assembly covering the sharing of explicit images, revenge porn and cybercrime. None of this makes Fiona feel any better and she becomes more and more withdrawn over the next few days. She shuts herself in her room and only comes downstairs for mealtimes. She doesn’t go to classes.

I knock on Fiona’s bedroom door on Saturday afternoon.

“Who is it?” she answers, her voice giving away that she’s been crying.

“It’s just me” I say.

“You can come in if you want” Fiona says.

I open her door and close it behind me.

“I’m so sorry this has happened. You don’t deserve this at all” I say, sitting on Fiona’s bed beside her.

I put my arm around her. She looks me in the eye and doesn’t say anything for a few moments.

And then “I’m going to find out who did this… and whoever it is, is going to pay”.


	4. Chapter 4

“You seem out of sorts today. Are you alright?” Cal asks as he serves up our Sunday roast.

“Yeah… it’s just been a weird few days” I reply.

Cal looks at me like he wants me to elaborate so I sigh and begin.

“You’ve heard about what happened with Fiona, right?”

“I heard that a photo was shared around the school, but that’s all I know”

“Ok, so her phone sent a photo to pretty much everyone, and it wasn’t her who sent it. She couldn’t find her phone anywhere, so we reckoned it had been taken… and then her phone shows up in my drawer. But I know it wasn’t me who took it. So, we’re thinking Shannon took it, sent the photo and then planted the phone in my room. She hates me”.

Cal raises his eyebrows.

“And then Mrs McGeary saw Fiona with her phone in my room and she wanted to know where she’d found it, so I said it had been in my room. And we’ve had meetings about it with Mrs Haynes, and the Garda came in, and Shannon got spoken to, and now she’s even more mad at me than usual. Like, I don’t know it was her for definite, but I know it wasn’t me… and I don’t see how it could be anyone else… I’m just a bit worried now that she’s going to try and get at me for dropping her in it”

“I’m sure it’ll be alright. Mrs McGeary and the other staff will be keeping a closer eye on you all”.

I nod.

“I hope so. I can’t believe someone did that to Fiona. She’s so kind and lovely to everyone”

“Maybe someone was jealous of her”.

I frown.

I know I’ve been jealous of Fiona enough in the past.

But still, I could never do something like that to her.

“Maybe” I reply.

“Has she gone back to classes yet?” Cal asks.

I shake my head.

“Thing is, no one’s really making a fuss about it. I mean in terms of making fun of her or anything. I think everyone just feels pretty bad for her… so it hasn’t really worked out for whoever did this. I spoke to her yesterday, but she’s mostly just been shutting herself away in her room”

“It’s an awful thing to deal with. I talked to her a bit earlier in church, but she definitely wasn’t herself, which is understandable of course. You’ve just got to be the best friend you can possibly be to her”.

I go back to Canterbury House. Fiona seems to have perked up a bit and we hang out in her room for a while. We work on our art coursework and do some painting for fun. We have pancakes for supper with lemon and sugar. Things are starting to feel a bit more settled again.

After supper I have a bath. I do a cucumber face mask and use my favourite Alberto Balsam blueberry shampoo. When I’m done, I do my hair in several plaits. I love to have my hair wavy. My hair is very long and dark blonde and naturally straight, which is nice sometimes, but I love to change up my look. I often have my hair in a ponytail for school but it’s not a requirement, so I think I’ll keep it down tomorrow.

Shannon is on the landing when I come out of the bathroom.

She glares at me.

“You always take forever in there” she says.

“Sorry” I apologise.

“You know having your hair wavy doesn’t make you any prettier”

“It makes me feel good, so that’s all that matters”.

Shannon shrugs.

“Is that what you thought when you took Fiona’s phone and sent that picture round?” she asks.

“I didn’t do that, and you know it”

“Well it sure as hell wasn’t me, no matter what you believe. I bet you’re just trying to drop me in it because you realise you messed up and don’t want Fiona to ditch you”

“If I’d have taken her phone, I wouldn’t have revealed to her that it was in my room, would I? I had no clue it was in there… because someone sneaked into my room and put it in my drawer”

“And you didn’t even stir? Seems fishy to me”

“Well neither did Fiona”

“Yeah. My other theory is that she was trying to send the picture to Josh, accidently sent it to all her contacts, and then got you to help her make it seem like someone else had done it. Makes sense, right? Considering Fiona didn’t even question you saying it wasn’t you, despite the fact you found the phone in your room. And I’ve had Mrs Haynes talking to me because you and Fiona blame me, even though I didn’t leave my room all night”

“Mrs Haynes talked to all of us in the house. And Fiona didn’t know what to think at first. But yeah, she believes me because I’m her best friend. She knows I wouldn’t do something like that to her”

“And I would?”.

I scoff.

“Well yeah”

“I’ve never had a problem with Fiona. My problem is with you”

“And I don’t know why that is”. Shannon looks me up and down but doesn’t say anything. I walk by her and go to my room.

I get into bed and can’t settle. I try painting for a bit. I paint Shannon and I don’t know why. I paint her long, naturally wavy, blonde hair and her shimmering blue eyes and pouting lips. Then I give her red devil horns and a pitchfork to hold. I get back into bed, pull the duvet over my head and go to sleep. It’s not long before I’m thrown into a nightmare.

_I’m running through the woodlands and I come to a clearing. I stop, frozen, as I see Shannon, Fiona, Aoife and Brooklyn lying dead on the floor. I can hear snarls and growls all around me. I feel a hand on my shoulder but all I can see behind me when I turn my head is a dark willowy figure. I can’t make out any features. I’m shoved forward so I’m forced to look at the bodies of my friends. Shannon’s eyes are gouged out. My stomach flips. I’m forced onto my knees by the figure behind me and a gun is pressed against the side of my head. I look into Shannon’s bloody eye sockets and breathe in deeply. And then a deafening shot rings through my ears. Am I dead? I don’t know. I feel a burning sensation through my body. I’m lying down now. I look up to the sky and see the glowing stars and the full moon. It’s beautiful. It’s so, so beautiful. But then the moon turns a deep red and blood starts raining from the sky, splashing down onto my face. And then the angry red moon grows a face with empty eye sockets and a huge, gaping mouth. It opens its jaws, exposing razor sharp teeth and starts to scream._

I wake with a start, my heart hammering. I realise I’m crying. I sit up in bed and turn on my nightlight. I pick up my water bottle and take big gulps. I grab a tissue and wipe away my tears. I take a few minutes to breathe deeply and try and shake myself out of the dream.

I’m ok. I’m safe.

Nothing bad is going to happen to me or my friends. We’re safe here at St Brendan’s. I hold my locket in my hands, thinking of my parents and wishing they were here.

When I feel a bit better I switch off my nightlight and soon I’m falling back to sleep, squeezing my locket tight.


	5. Chapter 5

We sit around the table for breakfast in the morning. I pour the cereal into my bowl and tuck in. “Can one of you ladies go and tell Shannon to hurry up? She’s going to miss breakfast” Mrs McGeary says. “I’ll go” Brooklyn says. A few minutes later, Brooklyn comes back into the kitchen. “She’s fast asleep. I shouted at her and poked her a few times, but she doesn’t look like she’s getting up”. Mrs McGeary frowns. “That’s not like Shannon. She’s usually so good at getting up on time. I’ll go and check on her”. A few minutes later we’ve all finished our breakfast and Shannon still hasn’t come downstairs. “Shall we go see what’s up?” Aoife asks. Fiona shrugs. “Maybe she’s finally got a conscience and is feeling bad for what she did to me” she murmurs. We all head upstairs, and Mrs McGeary is looking stressed. “Girls, I can’t get Shannon to wake up at all. Can one of you go and check she’s at least alive? I’m not really allowed to go into her room and start poking at her”. Brooklyn goes ahead and pokes Shannon a few more times. “I did this earlier and she doesn’t even twitch” Brooklyn says. She pulls the covers off of Shannon. There’s a mark on her arm. “What is _that?_ ” Brooklyn asks, examining Shannon’s arm. “It looks like a burn”. We can all see what it is. It’s a burn mark of the initials A.O. Anneliese O’Ceallaigh. Mrs McGeary looks at me. “Do you know anything about this?” she asks me. “No” I shake my head. “No, I’d never hurt her”. Brooklyn picks up a packet of cigarettes that are under the duvet. “Are these Shannon’s?” she asks. “Yeah, she’s the only one of us that smokes” Fiona says. “But I doubt she would have burned _herself_ ”. “Shannon?” Mrs McGeary shakes Shannon and still isn’t getting any response. She checks if she’s breathing. “Girls grab me a phone. I think we need to phone an ambulance”.

Mrs McGeary phones the ambulance and Aoife hurries to get Mr McGeary from the boy’s dorms of Canterbury House. The paramedics arrive and take Shannon off in the ambulance. Mrs McGeary goes with her and Miss Neilson, our Deputy Head, comes over to the house. The Garda have to come to speak to us. We get a call from Mrs McGeary saying that the doctors have found that Shannon had overdosed.

The Guards take me into a room on my own. “Your initials were burnt into Shannon’s skin” the female Guard called Ellie says to me. I nod. “It seems a bit unlikely that if you did this you would deliberately leave such evidence, but since there’s no signs of forced entry in Canterbury House, we have to assume it was someone here who hurt her… or that she hurt herself, but we’re not sure how likely that theory is”. I don’t reply so Ellie continues. “We will be taking fingerprint samples from all of you. As it stands, we do not have any evidence. There is no trace in her room of what she overdosed on, but we will run an analysis on the cigarette packet to see if the fingerprints match any of yours… but we know Brooklyn picked them up earlier so that’s not going to be overly reliable… and if Shannon manages to recover, we will obviously be speaking to her”. I nod. “Do you get on with Shannon?” Ellie asks. “Not particularly” I reply “She’s bullied me since we first met when we started here. She doesn’t like me at all” “Have there ever been any incidents between you two? We are aware of the situation that occurred on Wednesday” “Aside from that, no, not really. She’s shoved me about a few times and said a lot of things but we’ve never like, had a real fight” “What is her relationship with the other girls in your house like?” “Well Fiona is my best friend, so she doesn’t really get on with Shannon because of how she treats me. And I’m good friends with Aoife and Brooklyn as well. Brooklyn speaks to Shannon the most out of all of us, but most of Shannon’s friends are in the years above us. I wouldn’t have thought anyone here dislikes her to the point of hurting her like that though” “Why do you think your initials were burnt into Shannon’s skin?” “I don’t know” I reply honestly. “I don’t know anyone aside from Shannon that would want to get at me like that” “Maybe the person didn’t want to ‘get at you’ as you say but were panicking at what they’d done and needed to try and ensure someone else was suspected”. I nod. “We need to search your room” Ellie says. “And take your fingerprints”. The Garda take all of our fingerprints and then do a thorough search of our rooms. They don’t find anything.

Mrs McGeary arrives back at the house in the late afternoon. “How is she Miss?” Brooklyn asks. “She’s stable” Mrs McGeary says. “We just have to wait and see what happens… I know you’re all scared… I am too. We’ve had two incidents in the past week and it’s clear that at least one person in this house is a risk to others. I know it’s possible that Shannon did this to herself, but my gut feeling tells me that isn’t true”.

I go and have a bath and spend almost an hour in there. Something feels so, so wrong. What is happening? I’ve known Fiona, Aoife and Brooklyn for years and I can’t believe they would do something like this. What do I believe? Shannon could have taken Fiona’s phone and put it in my room to frame me and then, when she didn’t get the reaction she expected, she could have tried to take things a few steps further… but I can’t believe she’d go to this length. Would she really hurt herself to get at me?

I get into my pyjamas and go to my room. There’s missed calls on my phone from Cal. I drop my phone because my hands are shaking so much. I pick my phone up, shakily dialling Cal’s number. He answers straight away. “Hello” “Hi”. Cal goes silent for a few moments. He’s socially awkward at the best of times so I can’t imagine how he’s feeling right now. “How are you holding up?” he asks eventually. “I don’t even know, honestly” I reply. “I’m so sorry I haven’t been able to come over. I’ve been at the hospital all day with Shannon and her parents” “Yeah, I’m sorry I didn’t answer the phone. I was having a long bath” “I just wanted to check in on you… are you ok?”. I laugh shakily. “That was a stupid question” Cal says, sighing slightly. I surprise myself by starting to cry… properly cry. There are tears streaming down my face and I’m trembling. “Annaliese?” Cal asks. I start hyperventilating and no matter how much I try I can’t stop. “Hey honey, it’s ok. Try and breathe in for seven…” he says but I can’t. “Annaliese, you’re having a panic attack. It’s going to be ok”. I lie back on my bed. “Breathe with me” Cal says. I try but it’s impossible. “Where are you at the moment?” Cal asks. “In… my… room” I gasp. “Can you go and find Mrs McGeary?… You need someone with you” “I want _you_ ” I sob. “Alright… I’m just leaving the hospital and I’ll be right with you. I’ll phone Mrs McGeary and ask if I can take you for the night… I’m sure it will be ok”. A few minutes later Mrs McGeary comes upstairs and knocks on my door. “Annaliese, can I come in darling?”. “Yeah” I choke out. She opens my door and sits beside me on the bed, giving me a hug. “Oh love… I know it’s scary. Nothing like this has ever happened before, it’s so strange. Cal’s going to be right with you. You can go to his tonight if you want”. I nod. I want to get out of this house. Something feels so, so wrong.

I go downstairs when Cal gets here. “Are you ok?” Fiona asks when she sees I’ve been crying. I nod and hug her. Cal puts his arm around me as we walk over to his. “Someone’s trying to frame me” I mumble, my voice still shaking. “I know” Cal says. “But we’re going to sort this. I don’t think anyone believes it was you who did this”. When we get to Cal’s he makes me a cup of tea and we sit on the sofa. “I’m scared” I say, my voice weak. “That’s understandable. I am too, honestly. Someone’s clearly not in a good place at the moment and it’s putting other people at serious risk” “Do you think Shannon will be ok?” “She’s getting there. She’s already better than she was this morning so I’m hopeful she’ll be fine”. I rest my head on Cal’s shoulder. “I just wish I knew who did this. I’m so confused. Fiona said some stuff that’s making me worry… I don’t think she’d have done something like this… but she was so mad about what happened with her phone”. “What has she said?” Cal asks. “Well… she said she was going to find out who took her phone… and whoever it was would pay”. Cal sits me up so he can look me in the eye. “She said that?” “Yeah… but I don’t think she meant it like that. And if it was her who hurt Shannon, why would she burn my initials into her arm? She’s my best friend”. Cal doesn’t speak for a few moments and I can tell he’s thinking about what to do. “She would have been scared. As you said, she’s your best friend, and she may have thought it would make sense for you to be the one to get revenge on Shannon. I don’t know. I don’t know what to think” “Do you think it’s possible that Shannon did this to herself? Because no one believed it was me who took Fiona’s phone… maybe she thought they’d believe I did _this_ ”. Cal shakes his head. “That would be a very extreme way of trying to get back at you… I know Fiona’s your best friend, but I think we need to tell the Garda what you just told me. We don’t know what she meant by what she said, but it could easily be interpreted as a threat… and in this situation that has to be taken very seriously” “But then she’ll know that it was me who told. She said it to me when we were alone. You’re right, this is serious, and if she thinks I’m accusing her of attempted murder that’s going to be our friendship out the window” I say. “But if we don’t find out who’s responsible for this then more people could be hurt… Shannon could have died… and she’s not out of the woods yet”. Cal’s right. Of course, he is. He’s always right. “Ok” I say.

The Garda ask me some questions and then they go and speak to Fiona. This is going to ruin our friendship. What have I done? I don’t even believe it was her who did this. But then I don’t believe it was Aoife or Brooklyn either. It’s getting quite late now. It’s almost 11 and I’d usually be asleep by now. I don’t think there’s any way I’m getting any sleep tonight. “I feel awful” I say to Cal. “It’s bad enough having Shannon hate me but now I’ll have Fiona hating me as well. How am I going to cope with school and living in the same house as both of them? … and what if Fiona gets arrested? And if Shannon gets better, she’ll come back to the house and if the Garda don’t find out who hurt her, she’ll probably blame me. She’s going to have my initials burnt on her, how long will that even take to heal?” I’m speaking fast, my breathing quickening again. “You’re not going through this alone. I’m right here. And you’re safe here tonight. You’ve always got a safe space here and at the church. I’m not going to let anyone hurt you” Cal takes hold of my hand and squeezes it gently. I manage to calm down and Cal gets me a glass of water. He makes up a bed for me on the sofa and I snuggle up under the blanket. “Are you going to be alright?” Cal asks. “Yeah” I reply. “You know where I am if you need me”. I’m not usually scared at night, but I don’t usually stay overnight at Cal’s, and I’m alone downstairs in the dark and the anxiety is bubbling inside me. But it’s been such an exhausting day that eventually I’m falling asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

I take a day off school and go to the church office with Cal, but I go back to Canterbury House in the evening. The longer I leave going back, the harder it’ll be. Mrs McGeary speaks to me before I go to bed. “Fiona’s quite upset, but you did the right thing by telling the Garda what she said. There are still no other clues as to who hurt Shannon. The Garda can’t take any action against Fiona unless they have sufficient evidence. Shannon’s awake now and she’s spoken to the Garda, but she says she has no idea who hurt her. She says she definitely didn’t do it to herself. So, we’re not really any further forward. The only fingerprints found on the cigarette packet were Shannon and Brooklyn’s, but the cigarette used to burn Shannon’s arm hasn’t been found… and neither has the medication she overdosed on… It doesn’t make any sense”. Mrs McGeary sees the worry on my face. “I’m sorry dear, I don’t mean to scare you. We’re going to get through this. Anything that could potentially be used as a weapon has been locked away. I’m going to keep you girls safe. I promise you”. I’m not sure that’s a promise she can keep.

I go to bed and have nightmare after nightmare. In the morning I go down to breakfast. Fiona won’t make eye contact with me. My stomach twists horribly. I put my locket in my blazer pocket to give me some comfort. I go to school and hardly say a word to anyone for the whole day. Aoife and Brooklyn are still treating me normally, but Fiona stays far away. I don’t blame her.

At the end of the school day I go to the girl’s bathroom. I look at myself in the mirror, reflecting on the past week. This all feels like a nightmare. I blink several times, willing myself to wake up in Canterbury House, and for this past week to have been a dream. The door opens and Fiona comes in. I tense, my heart beginning to thump wildly. How has it got to the point that I’m scared of my best friend? “I can’t believe you” she says. “I don’t really think you hurt Shannon” I say “I didn’t think you were being serious about making someone pay. I just said it to Cal, and he said I needed to tell the Garda. I did argue with him. I knew you’d be mad” “You’re damn right I’m mad” Fiona says. “You’ve got everyone treating me like I’m a threat. I’ve never hurt anyone in my life!” “I know. I know that”. “But you know… I could always start. I’ve got a reputation now”. She backs me into the corner. “Fiona… you don’t need to do anything. If you hurt me, everyone will think you hurt Shannon too” “They already do, thanks to you!”. I find myself reaching into my blazer pocket and squeezing my locket. I wish my parents were here. I wish Cal was here. I wish I had my best friend back. I take a deep breath and suddenly I’m not scared any more. I have this sense that I’m the one with power here. What does that mean? I straighten up, my hand still holding tightly to the locket. Fiona steps back. “You wouldn’t fight me” she says. “Wanna bet?” I ask. My voice doesn’t even sound like me. Fiona shakes her head. “I wasn’t actually going to hurt you”. I walk past her and out through the door. If I don’t get away from her, I feel like I’m going to do something I regret. I walk the opposite direction to Canterbury House. I don’t know where I’m going.

I end up walking into town. I’ve got enough change in my blazer pocket for a portion of chips, so I go to the takeaway. I sit on a bench in the park and eat. I feel so odd. My head is spinning. My phone rings. It’s Cal. “Hi” I say. “Hey, are you alright? Where are you?” “I’ve gone to town” I say, stuffing chips into my mouth. “Mrs McGeary was worried. She said you didn’t go back to the house after school” “Nah, I wanted to get away for a bit” “Are you ok?” “Yeah, I guess so” “Did something happen?” “Nothing important”. I finish off my chips and get up, beginning to walk back towards the school. “Do you want to come and chat to me? I’m in the office at the moment. You can come here, or we can chat at mine” “Sure. I’ll come to the church. I’m on my way”.

It takes about 15 minutes to get to the church and I go upstairs to Cal’s office. I sit myself down on the windowsill, fumbling with my locket. “Are you alright? What happened?” Cal asks. “Nothing” I reply. “Did Fiona say anything to you?” “She was mad” “In what way?” “I don’t want to talk about it” I snap. Why am I so snappy? I’m _angry_. Why am I so angry? I mean, I know I’ve had to deal with a lot these past few days… but this is a weird feeling. My vision starts to blur. I get up and pour myself a glass of water from the water cooler. “We don’t have to talk. I’ve just finished up writing this week’s sermon if you want a read?” Cal asks. I nod. Cal prints off the sermon and hands it to me. “It’s not perfect but see what you think…I’ve just got to go and take in the delivery for the Food Bank. I’ll be back in a few minutes”. I skim read through Cal’s sermon. I’m exhausted. Why am I so tired? I’m sure I’ve been getting a decent amount of sleep every night. I take my locket out and run the chain through my fingers. It’s hot against my hand, which I reckon is due to having it in my pocket all day. I feel a pain in my chest like I’ve just been punched. My body feels like it’s burning. I wipe my forehead and it’s wet. I shrug off my blazer and gulp down the glass of water, leaning against the cool window. I look out over the school. There are birds flying in and out of the trees. I put my water down beside me and study the patterns of my locket, the sun reflecting off of the swirls. _Jump._ What? I look out of the window down to the ground below and a sudden urge to open up the window and throw myself out comes over me. What is going on? I put my locket in my blazer pocket and press my head and my hands against the cool window. The urge to throw myself out has gone. What was that? Cal comes back into the office. “What did you think of the sermon?” Cal asks. I’ve forgotten it already… which is weird… Cal’s sermons always catch my attention, even when I’m just reading them rather than listening to them. “Yeah it’s great” I reply. My voice sounds slurred. What is wrong with me? “Are you feeling ok?” Cal asks, concernedly. “I’m not sure” I reply. I don’t know what to tell him. I just feel strange all of a sudden, like I’m not even here in the room. Cal comes over to my side. “I don’t feel right” I mumble. Cal puts his hand on my shoulder worriedly and I feel myself falling sideways into his arms, my eyes closing. “Woah, woah, alright” Cal says, getting me onto the floor. “Annaliese?” he asks, shaking my shoulders. My eyes flicker open. “Annaliese, can you hear me?”. Cal checks my pulse. “Yeah” I groan. “It’s alright. Just lie still for me”. Cal puts his hand on my forehead. “You’re burning up” he says, loosening my tie and undoing the top buttons of my shirt. “I think I’m going to take you to the hospital. Just stay still for a few minutes and then I’ll get you to the car”. My eyes start flickering. “Try and stay with me ok?” Cal asks, shaking my shoulder again lightly. I feel my eyes droop closed. “Annaliese? Annaliese, I need you to talk to me, honey” Cal lifts me up, my head resting against his shoulder and as quickly and as carefully as possible gets me out to the car. He sits me in the front, fastening my seatbelt. “It’s going to be ok” he says to me and I can hear the panic in his voice. The car starts and we drive off. The motion of the car is making me feel sick. “I’m right here with you ok?” Cal says.


	7. Chapter 7

I try and open my eyes. The weird feeling is starting to pass. The car slows and stops. I open my eyes slightly and we’re at traffic lights. “Come on, come on” Cal mutters, panicking. I breathe in deeply. “Annaliese?” Cal asks. “Are you ok? Can you hear me?”. I nod. “I’m just getting you to the hospital. You passed out”. I sit myself up slightly, fanning myself. “Do you feel warm? You were really burning up” Cal asks. “Yeah” “Let me get the windows open”. It doesn’t make much difference as it’s pretty warm outside, but the breeze is nice. “How are you feeling?” Cal asks. “Tired… I don’t know what happened. I felt really weird all of a sudden” “We’re almost at the hospital. We’ll get you checked out. You were out for about ten minutes, so I’m worried it was more than just a simple faint”.

When we get to the hospital I’m too weak to stand so Cal carries me from the car. I get seen pretty quickly. The doctors take my temperature and it’s high, but not dangerously high. My heart rate is elevated, and my blood pressure is low. “We’re going to have to take some blood” a nurse tells me, and I tense up. “I’m scared of needles” I murmur. “It’ll be ok” Cal says. “Hold my hand”. I start to feel dizzy again as the nurse gets out the needle. “You ok?” Cal asks, brushing my hair away from my eyes. “Dizzy” I mumble. Cal keeps hold of me while the nurse takes my blood. My head is spinning, and I feel like I’m on a rollercoaster. I get put onto a bed and given some fluids. I hear Cal telling the doctor about what happened to Shannon and asking whether it’s possible the same thing could have happened to me. The doctor runs some tests but there’s nothing in my system. I get put onto the children’s ward to be monitored overnight. “Are you going to stay with me?” I ask Cal. “Yeah, of course” Cal replies. “Are you ok if I go and get some stuff for overnight? I’ll be straight back”. I nod.

  
Cal takes about half an hour and he comes back with my Hello Kitty pyjamas and dressing gown. I get changed in the bathroom. I look at myself in the mirror and I look like a ghost. Cal gets changed as well into joggers and a loose shirt. He gets a fold out chair to sleep in next to my hospital bed. I go to sleep quite quickly as I’m exhausted. The nurses keep coming to check my OBS which wakes me up every time. My blood pressure rises to normal and my heart rate goes down after a while.  
In the morning I feel a lot better, though I could do with more sleep. A doctor comes to speak to me and Cal. “It doesn’t seem to be anything to worry about” the doctor says. “You’ve most likely got a virus” “How long should she take off school?” Cal asks. “I’d say take the rest of the week off. If she gets worse or collapses again then bring her back and we’ll do further tests” the doctor replies.  
Cal and I get in the car. He looks a bit stressed, which is unusual for him and I’m worried he’s in a mood with me. “Are you ok?” I ask. “Me?” Cal asks. “Yeah, I’m alright. You just gave me quite a scare yesterday” “I’m sorry”. Cal shakes his head. “You don’t need to apologise honey. Are you feeling better?” “Yeah… I don’t know what went on with me yesterday. I felt like I was dying” “I was worried you were. I was scared that someone had hurt you” “Seems like I’m all good though”. But something still doesn’t seem right.

  
I spend the rest of the week at Cal’s. He does most of his work from home but goes over to the church a few times for meetings and to take in deliveries. I spend most of the time on the sofa. I do a bit of schoolwork, but I’ve got hardly any energy. I go back to Canterbury House on Sunday evening. Shannon’s not coming back to board for the time being, but she’ll be in school this week. It’s going to be so weird seeing her.

  
On Monday I go into school and my first class is science. Shannon’s in my class and I catch her eye. She looks as tired as I do. She smiles at me slightly.

  
Well that’s weird.

  
I don’t think she’s ever once smiled at me. I drink a lot of water in class and I’m desperate for the toilet by the time class is over. Shannon follows me into the girl’s bathrooms. I should have expected that. I lock myself in a cubicle. After about five minutes, Shannon calls my name. “Annaliese?” Do I answer? I mean, she knows I’m in here so not answering isn’t exactly going to make any difference. “Yeah?” my voice sounds so pathetic. “Are you ok?”. I don’t know how to answer that. “I guess so?” I reply. I open the door and she’s just standing there. She doesn’t look threatening or anything. “How are you doing?” I ask. “Yeah, I’m getting there” Shannon replies. She shows me her arm with the burn of my initials. I tense. “I wonder how long I’ve got to have this on me. The doctors said it probably will heal but not quickly”. I nod. “I’m really sorry that happened to you”. Was that the right thing to say? “Thanks. I heard you ended up in the hospital last week?” “Yeah, I got sick, but it looks like it was just a virus” “Well that’s good news, I guess”. This is the weirdest interaction ever. We don’t speak for a few moments. “I don’t think it was you who nearly killed me by the way” Shannon says. “And I don’t think it was you who took Fiona’s phone either… but it wasn’t me” “Who do you think it is?” I ask. “I think it was Fiona who went after me… but I don’t know who took her phone” “I don’t know if Fiona would do something like that” “I think she would if she believed I was the one who sent the photo… and I know you told the Garda that she said she was going to make whoever it was pay”. I nod. “She’s guilty. And I’m not going back to Canterbury till she’s gone” Shannon says.

  
Over the next few days Shannon and I talk more and we spend our lunch times together. Fiona sees us and raises her eyebrows, but she doesn’t say anything. She sits with Aoife and Brooklyn and they all keep looking over at us. Other people stare at us as well. I guess it is weird. Shannon’s been tormenting me since we were eleven and now we’re almost friends.  
After school on Thursday I go over to Cal’s. “How’ve you been?” Cal asks. “I seem to have become friends with Shannon” “Seriously?” “Yep. She’s actually been nice to me the past few days. She thinks it was Fiona who hurt her. She’s sure of it. And she insists she wasn’t the one who took Fiona’s phone” “Do you believe her?”. I consider it. “Yeah… I actually do. I wouldn’t have thought Aoife or Brooklyn would do something like that… but maybe I don’t know my friends as much as I thought I did”.

  
That night I have another nightmare. _I’m running through the woodlands, being chased by some being that I can’t see, and I come to a clearing. Again. I realise this time that I’m in a dream and that this isn’t real. But it still feels so scary. I try and snap open my eyes. I pinch myself. But I’m stuck in this dream. I’ll just have to wait it out. There are no bodies lying in the clearing this time, but I soon realise that there are bodies hanging in the trees. Cal’s body is hanging upside down and wearing his Sunday robes, but his head is missing. I pass underneath his hanging body and try not to look up. And then blood pours from his body, splashing down onto me and I scream, falling into the dirt. And then the dirt begins to swallow me, sucking me into the earth. I scrabble and kick out, but it makes no difference. Before I know it, I’m buried and I can feel the earth all around me, closing in on me. I can feel the dirt in my mouth, blocking my airway. I’m dying. I’m about to die._

  
I wake up hyperventilating. I check my phone and it’s only just gone midnight. I grab my locket from my bedside table and hold it close to my chest, crying myself back to sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

“Guys, you won’t believe this!” I hear Brooklyn shout. I sit up in bed. “What’s going on?” Aoife asks. “The school’s been vandalised. There’s graffiti everywhere!”. Another incident? I thought we were done with this. I climb out of bed and open my bedroom door. “It’s awful” Brooklyn says. “Apparently the paintings are really graphic as well, like violent and gory… I swear, the Garda are gonna be sick of this school” “Do we still have to go to school?” Aoife asks. “You can’t go into the Main Block until the graffiti has been painted over. It’s much too graphic” Mrs McGeary says. “The Garda have been called but since there’s no threat to your safety, lessons will be proceeding as normal in the other buildings”. We all look at each other. There may not be a threat to our safety this time… but there sure as hell has been. Could it be the same person? We have our breakfast and then head over to school.

We have an assembly in the Old Block. I sit with Aoife and Brooklyn. There’s an odd atmosphere in the room. “Of course, by now, you’ll likely have heard about the graffiti in the Main Block” Mrs Haynes begins. “It’s obviously completely unacceptable and a criminal offence, so we will be reviewing the CCTV footage to find out who is responsible. If any student here is found to be responsible, we will of course be excluding them with immediate effect. This is the third incident we’ve had here in the space of just a few weeks and we will find out who is responsible”. 

I walk with Aoife and Brooklyn to maths class. Fiona walks behind us, looking uncomfortable. “At least this time they’ll be able to say for definite who did it” Brooklyn says, “as long as the CCTV works”. “Do you think it’ll be the same person who hurt Shannon and took Fiona’s phone?” Aoife asks. Brooklyn shrugs. “It could be a different person each time. How will we know?”.   
After maths, we have English. Halfway through the class there is a knock on the door. Miss Neilson, our Deputy Head, comes in and catches my eye. “I need to have a word with Annaliese O’Ceallaigh” she says sternly. Everyone gawps at me and I feel frozen in my seat. I slowly get up and walk out of the room silently with Miss Neilson. “I hope you know how much trouble you are in” she says as we walk. “What have I done Miss?” I ask, trying to keep my voice steady. “We have the CCTV footage so there’s no point trying to lie” Miss replies.

We walk through the corridor of Main Block and, at first, I’m just alarmed at how graphic the graffiti is. There are images of death, destruction, violence and vulgar language. How could someone do this? It’s not quite as bad as nearly murdering someone, but it’s still messed up. Something that strikes me as very odd is how detailed the images are, and how well painted… it looks like a professional artist painted these images, despite the content. Perhaps it’s not one of us. Perhaps this is a standalone incident. But then I see in the bottom corner of the wall where the graffiti finishes ... my initials … again. I look more carefully at the images and I realise that all the people in the paintings are my friends. Shannon’s image has her organs torn out and that burn on her arm with my initials… Fiona’s image is a replication of the image that was sent round but with stab wounds all over her body… Aoife and Brooklyn’s images are together and they both have a knife through their chest with ‘kill’ written in red all around them. And finally, there’s Cal, beheaded, with blood pooling around him. I feel like throwing up. 

We arrive at the Head’s office and Mrs Haynes is there with Cal. Why is he here? He looks at me with concern, and something like disappointment. I sit next to him, resisting the urge to grab hold of his hand. I’ve never been sent to the Head’s office before. I’m terrified. “Why?” Mrs Haynes asks. “What do you mean, Miss?” I reply. My heart is thumping wildly in my chest. “We know it was you who did this” Mrs Haynes says. Is this a joke? “I didn’t Miss. I would never do something like that” I say. “We’ve got you on the CCTV” Mrs Haynes replies. She gets it up on her computer screen and I watch as the cameras show me climbing through the window of the art department, clad in my jeans and t-shirt with my locket round my neck, and then in the art department gathering up paint, and then in the corridors painting those images. My mouth nearly drops open. At the end of the video footage I take the art supplies back, put them away neatly, walk back through the corridor and grin up at the camera. “I don’t understand” I say. “Neither do we” Miss Neilson replies. I take a deep breath. “I didn’t do this… I was in bed… but that’s clearly me on the screen”. I feel dizzy. “Annaliese… if you had the capability to do this, we have a clear reason to believe you could easily have been the one to hurt Shannon… Your initials were on the wall just like on Shannon’s arm… and the content of your images doesn’t exactly help your case”. I shake my head. “No… no I’d know if I’d done that. I swear I didn’t. I don’t understand” “You know we have to take this very, very seriously” Mrs Haynes says. “Is it alright if I talk to Annaliese on her own for a minute?” Cal asks. Mrs Haynes nods and she and Miss Neilson go and stand outside in the corridor. I look at Cal. “What’s going on Anna?” “I don’t know” my voice is barely above a whisper. Cal looks into my eyes, his hand on my shoulder. “I need you to be 100 percent honest with me” he says. “I am” I reply. “I don’t remember doing that. As far as I was aware, I slept through the night. I don’t understand this”. Cal thinks for a minute, looking up at the ceiling… and then he looks back at me. “I believe you… You have never given me a reason not to trust you. But the CCTV definitely shows you doing that graffiti. Look, I think we need to take you to see a doctor… to see if there’s any explanation for this. I believe that you don’t have a clue what’s going on, and I believe that you had no intention of any of this happening, or any recollection… We’re going to sort this ok?”. I nod shakily. Cal opens the door and Mrs Haynes and Miss Neilson come back in. “Annaliese says she has no recollection of doing this. I’ve known her all her life and I trust her with all my heart. I know she wouldn’t do something like this deliberately. I’m going to take her to the doctor’s, to see if there’s any kind of medical explanation for this”. 

Mrs Haynes and Miss Neilson have a discussion while Cal and I stand in the corridor. “This doesn’t make sense” Cal says, running his hand through his hair. I look all around me at the images on the walls. The images that I painted. “I can’t even paint like that” I say, bewildered. “I just thought the same thing” Cal replies. I look at the image of Cal and shudder. Mrs Haynes and Miss Neilson call us back in. “Annaliese…” Mrs Haynes begins. “We agree with Reverend McCluskey that you should see a Doctor. You’ve never behaved like this before and we don’t believe you’ve done this, or anything else you may have done, because you’re a bad person. But we are very concerned for your mental health. And the police will need to speak to you. Depending on what the doctor’s say, you’re unlikely to get into serious trouble if it can be proven that you’ve done this due to mental illness or some kind of sleep disturbance. You’ve appeared to be completely fine during the day at school and as far as we know, no one has noticed you displaying any strange behaviour. But this is very worrying, and we will have to be suspending you from school until you can get the right help with this. Reverend, as Annaliese’s next of kin we’ll need you to sort out her care arrangements” “Of course” Cal replies. I feel like my world is crashing down. “Do you understand, Annaliese?” Mrs Haynes asks. “Yeah… I’m so sorry for this. I mean it when I say I don’t remember doing this, or anything else… but I’m still so sorry”. Mrs Haynes nods.

I go to Canterbury House and pack up my stuff. Mrs McGeary looks like she wants to say something to me but doesn’t know what to say. I leave without saying a word to her. I don’t have any words to say to anyone. I’m in shock. I take my stuff to Cal’s house. Is he even going to let me stay here with him? Are my parents going to have to come home? Honestly, right now, that’s what I want. I just want them here. I feel so alone.


	9. Chapter 9

I speak to my parents on the phone about everything that has gone on, but they don’t seem to understand. I suppose that’s reasonable. Nothing about this situation makes sense. “You need to get this sorted Anna. We’re not in a position to be able to leave right now and Cal’s got an important job to do. He can’t be worrying about you all the time” Mum says. “I don’t want him to have to worry about me” I reply. “Then make sure you engage in whatever the doctor suggests. You’ve got to try and work through whatever it is that’s going on, because otherwise you’re going to miss out on school and all your activities” Dad says. “I already am missing out” “But hopefully only for a short time”. I don’t want to go back to school after everything I’ve done. How can I ever come back from that?

After I finish speaking to my parents, I have dinner. Cal’s done a lasagne, which usually I love, but I feel sick to my stomach. “How are you doing?” Cal asks. He looks so worried about me that I can’t meet his eye. “I’m grand. My parents say I need to hurry up and get better otherwise I’ll miss out on my precious schooling” “I think they’re just stressed. They’re the other side of the world, hearing about everything that’s gone on, and all they want is to be here with you, but that’s not possible at the moment”. I nod. “Anyway, we’ve got your doctor’s appointment first thing tomorrow, and we’re going to get this sorted, I promise you. It may take some time, but things will go back to normal” “Things will never go back to normal. Fiona’s never going to be my friend again. Shannon will know it was me that hurt her, even though I didn’t mean to and have no recollection of it. Everyone will always know that it was me. I could have killed her”. I start crying and Cal hugs me. I feel so empty and lost. I feel like this pain is never going to end.

We go to the doctor’s in the morning and spend a whole hour in there. “I don’t think this is a sleep disorder or anything neurological” Doctor Tate says. “I understand that you’ve said you have no recollection of anything you’ve done, but to climb through a window into school and paint that level of detail, you’ve got to be conscious. And although no one knows for certain whether it was you who hurt Shannon, again, that’s got to take some thought and skill. I’m suspecting this is a psychological issue and we’ll need to assess you but I’m thinking this is likely to be a mental health disorder” “She isn’t having any symptoms of mental illness during the day though. Her teachers have reported that she hasn’t behaved out of the ordinary” Cal says. “But you took her to hospital last week, correct?” “Yes. The Doctor at the hospital said it was likely she had a virus” “Yes, but that wasn’t confirmed. And I think it’s likely that what has been going on psychologically was presenting itself physically. There is a strong link between mental and physical health”. Cal looks unsure but he nods. “We’ll get you assessed by a psychiatrist and consider the best option for your treatment. It’s possible you’ll have to spend some time in an inpatient service” Doctor Tate says to me. “What does that mean?” “It’s a little like a mixture between a hospital and a boarding school” Doctor Tate explains. “They’ll be able to give you the treatment you need whilst ensuring your safety. But that’s not what’s definitely going to happen” “Do I have to go?” “If it’s decided that’s what’s best for you then yes”.

When we get back from the doctors, I curl up on the sofa and stare into space. I don’t know what to do. I feel completely lost. I think over the last few weeks. Am I mentally ill? I don’t feel particularly great right now… but that’s because of everything that’s been going on. I felt fine before. I haven’t had any unusual thoughts. And I had absolutely no intention of doing anything to hurt anyone. So, what is going on? “How are you feeling?” Cal asks, sitting beside me on the sofa. I shrug. “I’m confused” I reply. I bite my lip to stop myself from crying again. I’ve done enough crying. “Do you think I’m mentally ill?” I ask Cal. He looks like he’s debating what he wants to say. He doesn’t speak for a while. And then… “No”. “But I’m not a doctor” he adds. “But you know me better than anyone. What do you think is going on?” I ask. Cal sighs. “… I don’t know. But I think there’s some things that don’t add up” “Like?” “Well… I don’t know… I’ve seen your artwork, and I know that you’re good, and I think you’ve got real talent… but those paintings in the hallway did not look like yours. They looked professional. But the CCTV showed you doing them… so obviously you did. And there’s the issue of there being no evidence in the situation with Shannon. There was absolutely no trace of what she took found in the house, and your fingerprints were not found on any of her things” “Do you think it’s possible that I only did the graffiti?” “Yes. But despite the evidence, I’m having a hard time believing you did that too” “Do you think someone could have edited the CCTV? Is that even possible?” “I don’t think so. I don’t know. I honestly don’t know what to think… But Annaliese, I need you to know that I trust you and I believe you. Whatever the psychiatrist says, I need you to try and be strong. You’ll get through this and whatever happens, I’m going to be here”.

I have a cup of tea before bed and then settle down. Cal sits up with me for a bit and then goes to bed. It takes me ages to fall asleep. I get up and get my locket out of my jacket pocket. I hold it in my hand and study it as I fall asleep. I think back to my 15th birthday and how happy I was. It was the day before everything started to go wrong. I wish I could turn back time. It’s about one in the morning that I finally drift off, and the nightmare starts to form.

_I’m running through the hallways of St Brendan’s. The shadowy figure is chasing me, and I can feel claws tearing into my back. I see Cal up ahead and I run towards him but as soon as I get close, he disappears and then appears at the end of a new corridor. I can never get to him, no matter how hard I try. I turn a corner and run down the corridor covered in my paintings. But this time all of the images are of the beheaded Cal. There’s a sharp knife with my initials carved into the handle pointing downwards above one of the dead Cal’s. And then there’s a gravestone reading_

**Reverend Caleb McCluskey**

**4th December 1978 – 23rd June 2019**

_It’s June at the moment. I try and think of when the 23rd is. I haven’t been paying attention to dates and it takes me a few moments to even remember what day it is._

_The 23rd of June 2019 is today. It’s today. I run after Cal, moving faster and faster and this time I manage to catch up to him. And when I get to him, he turns and looks me in the eye and slowly his face turns to glass and piece by piece it breaks away, until a headless body stands before me. And then the body falls to the floor._


	10. Chapter 10

I wake with a start and I’m disorientated for a few moments. My locket is on the floor. I must have been holding it as I fell asleep. My stomach lurches as I remember the dream. I run up the stairs faster than I’ve ever run before and as I get to the landing Cal is opening his bedroom door. The next few seconds seem to happen in slow motion. I see the booby trap attached to Cal’s door just as he opens it. I see the knife. I see it fall. I see Cal move at the last millisecond, and the knife embeds itself in the floor.

I stand there in shock. Cal’s in shock too. Neither of us move an inch. We stand there, saying nothing, doing nothing for maybe ten minutes. When at last I move slightly Cal jerks back as if I’m going to attack him. Yesterday he said that he trusted me. But I know that trust is gone. “Cal…” I say, and tears start running down my cheeks. Cal looks at the booby trap and the knife in the floor, and at me. When he moves, I jerk back and nearly go hurtling down the stairs, but Cal reaches out and catches hold of me, pulling me into a hug as I sob. We end up on the floor and I’m practically on Cal’s lap, the fear overwhelming me. I nearly killed him. I nearly killed the most important person to me in the world.

About an hour later I’m all cried out and I sit myself up slightly, still leaning against Cal. “I nearly killed you” I murmur. Cal doesn’t say anything. A while later, my stomach starts rumbling. “Let’s get you something to eat” Cal says, taking my hand and pulling me up. We go downstairs and Cal does us some toast and juice. We eat and drink in silence. Eventually I ask, “What are we going to do now?”. Cal looks at me. “I don’t know” “I think the doctor was right. I think I need to be put in a hospital. I need to be contained. I’m a danger to everyone” “I don’t want to tell anyone about this” Cal says and I’m shocked. “What do you mean?”. Cal considers what he’s going to say for a few moments. “Do you remember making that trap?” “No. But I _was_ having a nightmare and there was a gravestone that said you died today, which is why I was running upstairs in such a panic” “Have you had any other nightmares like that… over the past few weeks?” “Yeah, it’s been a recurring nightmare. I’ve been having loads of nightmares over the last few weeks but it’s almost the same thing every time before I wake up and something’s happened”. Cal nods and goes quiet for a moment. And then, “Annaliese, I need you to think. Is there anything else that has been the same every time?”. I think, but I don’t know. “What are you thinking Cal?” “I don’t know what I’m thinking. But I know what I’m not thinking… and that’s that this is psychological”.

Cal sorts out upstairs and then we sit on the sofa, watching some films on TV. I can’t believe Cal hasn’t flipped out. I can tell he’s scared, but he’s not angry at me. I don’t know what it is he’s thinking. He says he doesn’t think it’s psychological… but then what can it be? Is it some sort of brain tumour or something? What could make me do things I can’t remember doing? “Are we just going to keep going like nothing’s happened?” I ask Cal. “No… I’m just thinking about the best course of action. I don’t want to tell the doctors or the Garda… not yet anyway. I’m just trying to make some sort of sense out of all this. I think tonight, I want to stay awake and watch what happens. I’ll stay down here with you, and you try and do exactly what you did last night before bed, and we’ll see what goes on” “But it hasn’t been happening every night” “I know. But so far no one has seen you actually do anything in person. All we have to go on is the CCTV footage” “And what if I do wake up and go all psycho? I nearly killed you last night” “You didn’t physically attack me. If this is all caused by something like schizophrenia, it’s not going to make you stronger. If you wake up and you become violent, I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to restrain you” “But you _don’t_ think this is psychological”. Cal looks at me for a few seconds, and then says “No”.

When it gets around to bedtime my hands are shaking. I’m so, so scared for what could happen tonight. What if Cal falls asleep? I managed to nearly kill Shannon in the night, and she wasn’t aware of anything. I’m so, so afraid of hurting Cal. I have a cup of tea before bed, just like last night, trying to replicate what I did before bed. What else did I do? I don’t know. I settle down on the sofa, but I doubt I’m actually going to be able to sleep. Cal sits in the armchair next to the sofa. I roll around, trying to get comfy. “I’m not going to be able to sleep” I say, after a while. “I’m too scared”. “How about I read to you?” Cal asks, picking up his Bible from the coffee table. “Yes please”. Cal always used to read to me when I was little. He has such an extensive book collection, whereas my parents aren’t too into reading, so whenever we were round at his I’d always bring him a book to read to me. I miss those days so, so much. “Which book would you like?” Cal asks. John is my favourite Gospel. “Let’s go with John”. I pick up my locket from the coffee table and hold it close, wishing my parents were here. Cal opens up the Bible, finds John, and begins to read.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it”.

I fall asleep to Cal’s voice, holding my locket tight in my hand, and praying that this pain and fear will end.


	11. Chapter 11

_Caleb McCluskey opens his eyes and shakes himself awake as he realises that he had drifted off at some point in the night. He feels his heart speed up, but Annaliese is still asleep on the sofa as she had been before. She looks peaceful. Perhaps nothing will happen tonight. After all, there has been four incidents in two weeks, so whatever is happening is not happening every night. Cal almost considers going back to sleep, but then he sees Annaliese’s arm twitch. She opens her eyes and stares up at the ceiling, unblinking. Cal places the Bible he is still holding on the table beside him. “Annaliese?” he asks, softly. She doesn’t respond to him, but continues staring up at the ceiling, not moving, not blinking. Cal moves to her side. “Hey sweetie, are you ok?” he asks, gently nudging Annaliese’s shoulder. She remains unresponsive. Cal checks her pulse and it’s strong. He gently strokes her hair, trying to settle her back to sleep. And then she sits up, suddenly. Cal jerks back, not sure of what’s going to happen. Annaliese slowly turns her head to look at him. She stares at him for a few moments. And then her nose starts gushing blood. Cal feels his eyes widen. Annaliese is still holding her locket tightly as she was when she fell asleep. Blood is dripping down onto it. Cal tries to prise the locket from Annaliese’s hand to get it out of the way, but her grip is firm. “Annaliese, it’s Cal, sweetheart I need you to wake up” Cal says, shaking Annaliese’s shoulders. She blinks rapidly and then awareness comes into her eyes. “Cal?”. He sighs in relief. “Yeah, honey, it’s ok. You weren’t responding and you’re having a nosebleed. I just need to get you a tissue”. Cal grabs a tissue packet from one of the shelves on the other side of the room and then gets back to Annaliese’s side, gently leaning her forward and pinching the soft part of her nose. He mops up the blood with a tissue. “How are you feeling?” he asks. “I feel weird” Annaliese replies. “Weird in what way?” Cal asks. “Dizzy… I feel like I’ve got pins and needles everywhere. My arms feel numb”. The bleeding stops and Cal wipes away the remaining blood on Annaliese’s face. The entire tissue packet has been used up. Cal thinks for a few moments. He’s been doing a lot of thinking recently but it doesn’t seem to be getting him anywhere useful. He’s about to ask Annaliese if she thinks she needs to go to hospital, when her eyes roll back and she starts fitting. “Woah, woah, honey, ok” Cal says. “It’s ok, it’s ok, you’re going to be ok”. Cal gets Annaliese on the floor and places a pillow under her head. Annaliese still has a tight grip on her locket. How has she not dropped it yet? Cal knows he should be phoning an ambulance but there’s something he needs to check. Is it possible? He takes Annaliese’s hand and pulls on the locket, trying to yank it out of her hand, not caring if it snaps. It takes what seems like forever, but as soon as Cal finally manages to open Annaliese’s hand and throw aside the locket, the seizure stops instantly. There is no way that can be a coincidence, Cal is sure of it. Annaliese is ghostly white, and her eyes are slightly open but unseeing. Cal checks her pulse and it’s weak. He leans over her, feeling and listening for breath. But she’s not breathing. “No, no, no”. Cal panickily starts mouth to mouth and after about twenty seconds Annaliese gasps for breath. There’s no time to wait for an ambulance that he hasn’t even phoned for yet, so Cal scoops up Annaliese in his arms and hurries to the car. But he knows that this isn’t simply a medical issue. This is something much, much more. And it’s something he doesn’t understand._


	12. Chapter 12

I’ve been dimly aware of everything that’s happened in the past few hours. I remember coming to with a bloody nose and pins and needles through my body. I remember coming to _again_ in the hospital. I had an MRI scan which was one of the worst experiences of my life. I felt trapped and panicked, and the man doing my scan shouted at me because I was moving too much. I’ve had blood taken and my OBS checked. Surprisingly, despite the fact that I’ve had a seizure and stopped breathing, all the tests show I’m completely fine. There is absolutely nothing physically wrong with me.

I can tell that Cal has been crying. I’ve hardly ever seen him cry in my life. A doctor comes to talk to us. “Ok… so as you know, all the tests we’ve done have shown no issues. So, it appears the seizure was psychogenic”. A look of frustration waves over Cal’s face and I worry he’s annoyed at me. I wouldn’t be surprised. He shouldn’t be having to deal with all this. He shouldn’t be having to deal with me. “What about the fact that she stopped breathing?” Cal asks. “That’s likely to coincide with what I’ve said about the seizure. The best explanation I can give is that Annaliese was in a state of panic, which triggered the seizure and likely caused her to hold her breath” “And the nosebleed?” “Again, that’s something that can easily be caused by chronic anxiety and stress”. Cal doesn’t look too convinced. “So how do we move forwards?” he asks. “Well…” The doctor begins. “I think it will be a good idea to admit Annaliese to the children’s ward for the time being, and we’ll get a mental health specialist to come and have a chat with you both and see what can be offered at this time, which could potentially be an inpatient admission, depending on the availability of beds”.

I get given a room to myself on the children’s ward. I guess they want to keep me away from the other children. That makes sense. I’m a potential risk to everyone. Cal gets me a change of clothes from home and I get changed. I’m not allowed to go to the bathroom by myself, so I have to have a nurse in with me while I get dressed. I go back to my room and Cal is sitting by my bed, his head resting on his hand. I’ve never seen him look so worn out. “Are you ok?” I ask him. He almost goes to nod and then shakes his head. He gives me a hug. “I’ll be ok once I know you’re ok. I just… I wish I hadn’t brought you here” “You don’t agree with what the doctor said, do you?” “No. No, I don’t… but at the moment there’s nothing that I can do” “Why don’t you tell them what you think?” “Because… I don’t think they’d understand” “What do you mean?”. At that moment the mental health nurse comes in to talk to us. We go over everything that happened at school. “And you don’t remember doing any of this?” the nurse named Cara asks. “No” I reply. “Ok. Can you tell me about how you’ve been feeling these past few weeks?” “I _was_ fine. Everything was going great. School was good, Church was good, my dance classes were going well and my flute lessons. I was doing a lot of artwork because I love painting and drawing. I was just _really_ happy” “Did anything happen to change the way you were feeling?” “Well yeah, I was upset for Fiona when the picture was shared round, and then what happened to Shannon was really worrying. I was worried about her and I was worried about the rest of us. And then I didn’t know what was wrong with me when I passed out. And then I found out I’d been responsible for covering the school in graffiti when I had no idea that I’d done that. Then getting suspended from school… and then realising that I was most likely the one who’d hurt Shannon as well, and I hadn’t even been aware of it. I could have killed her. And then nearly killing Cal as well-” I stop myself and Nurse Cara straightens up in her seat. “What was that?”. I look at Cal. He hasn’t exactly told me to keep it a secret, but he hasn’t mentioned it to anyone as far as I know. “Two nights ago, I managed to set up a booby trap with one of the sharpest knives in Cal’s house that triggered when he opened his bedroom door. If he hadn’t had been as quick as he was, it would have seriously hurt or killed him. And I don’t remember doing that”. Nurse Cara looks extremely concerned. “Did you report this to anyone?” she asks Cal and he shakes his head. “Why not?” “… Because I want to make sure Annaliese gets the right help, and I wasn’t sure what that was. I didn’t want to make any decisions I was going to regret” “Ok… well we definitely need to see if we can get you a bed on a secure ward” Nurse Cara says to me. “This is very serious, and we will have to place a section on you, which keeps you in hospital until it’s decided that you’re better. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go and discuss this with my colleagues, and I’ll be back to talk with you again shortly… have you got any questions Annaliese?”. I shake my head. I’m going to be locked away. It may not be prison, but it certainly feels like it. I stare down at the floor. Nurse Cara leaves the room and Cal puts his arm around me. “I’m going to go and talk to her” he says quietly and then leaves the room too.

I stand up, trying to think of what to do. I look out of the window in the door of the room and the corridor is empty. Cal has gone around the corner, following after Nurse Cara. I rummage in Cal’s jacket pocket and find his wallet. There’s some cash in it. I slowly open the door and step out. There are no staff here. No one is watching me. Before I fully realise what I’m doing, I’m bolting towards the main door of the children’s ward. I push the button and the door unlocks and I’m running out. I find the exit and sprint as fast as I can away from the hospital. No one’s running after me yet, but I’m sure they will be soon. I run across the road and through into a residential area, where a bus is just pulling in at the bus stop. In a stroke of luck, it’s the bus I need to get back to Cal’s. I get on, pay my fare and the bus takes off. My heart is hammering as I lean back in my seat. I don’t know what I’m doing. Soon enough someone will find me. Do I go to Cal’s? Do I go to school? Do I go somewhere else? After fifteen minutes on the bus we turn onto Brendan Street and I decide to get off. I hurry to Cal’s cottage and take the front door key from his wallet. I’m in a complete panic. I throw myself down on the sofa, sobbing. And then I scramble up. I can’t just sit around. I need to go somewhere. I need to do something. I pick up my locket which is on the floor, bloodstained. There’s blood on the sofa and the floor from my nosebleed. As I hold the locket tight in my hand I feel a sense of power. My fear is still strong, but it’s mixed with anger. If the Garda turn up, I know I can handle it. I don’t know _how_ but I know I can. No one is going to section me. No one is going to keep me contained. I look out of the window and a Garda car pulls up. I put my locket around my neck and hurry out into the garden. I hear a knock on the front door. I take a running jump at the back fence and hurtle over it. How did I do that? I land in the church garden and run to the back door of the church. It’s closed. I kick it and the door bursts open. I’m shocked and amazed at my own strength but I try not to dwell on it. And then I run upstairs to the church office. No one’s here thankfully. There’s a long cupboard running horizontally across the bottom of the wall and I climb into it, closing the tiny door behind me. I don’t know what I’m doing. The Garda will come looking for me in here soon enough. But I know that when they do I’m going to be safe. No one is going to lay a hand on me.


	13. Chapter 13

After about ten minutes, I hear the door of the church office burst open. I tense, but then I squeeze my locket and my fear dissipates. Any second now the Garda will open the cupboard door and see me in here. What am I going to do? The door opens and I’m found, but then I’m scuttling backwards, and the cupboard is extending out. I push myself backwards until I see a corridor behind me. I roll out into the corridor and get to my feet. This isn’t real. This corridor doesn’t exist in the church. But I don’t care. I start to run. I turn at the end of the corridor and for a split second it’s a dead end, but then another corridor extends out and I’m sprinting down that one. I keep this up for what seems like hours, creating my own labyrinth of corridors. Eventually I stop and sit down. I haven’t grown tired. In fact, I’m growing in energy every second. But I don’t want to keep making corridors. I’m not sure exactly _what_ I want, but I’d rather not spend the rest of my life in my own never-ending corridor maze. I consider walking back the way I’ve come, but that doesn’t seem like a sensible idea. The Garda must have realised that something very odd is happening by now. Would they have followed me? I get up and suddenly I can hear heavy footsteps. I turn to run but I end up running the wrong way and the Guards are there, and they’ve got guns. And those guns are pointing at me. “Put your hands up and stay still!” a male Guard yells at me. Before I know what I’m doing, I’ve sent a blast of fire hurtling at the Guards. Every single one of them falls to the ground, charred and burnt to a crisp. I stumble back in shock. I’ve just killed someone. No, I’ve just killed five people. I need to get out of here. I run the opposite direction, creating more and more corridors. I want to get out of this church. I want to get as far away from here as I possibly can. I create stairs leading down and I hurry down them so fast that I trip, but before I hit the ground and crack my head open, I’m pulled back up to a standing position. Am I invincible in whatever state I’m currently in? I don’t really want to find out. I’m more careful on the rest of the stairs, and then I get to a door. Where does this lead? I open it and step out through the wall into the meeting place of the church. And there are more Guards, looking perplexed when they see me walk out of a wall. They draw their guns, but I raise my hand and a gust of wind blows them off their feet and a hole opens up in the floor and sucks them down. I look around me for anyone else. There’s no one left. For now, anyway. I want to get out of here. I run to the main doors and push them open and I crash right into someone. I lift my hand, getting ready to throw them backwards when I realise it’s Cal. “Cal?” I ask, trying to hug him. He moves back, away from me. I see the fear in his eyes. “Cal please, I’m not going to hurt you” I say, tears forming in my eyes as I try and hold onto Cal, but he pulls away from me. Tears are rolling down my face now, and there’s a horrible pain in my chest and a lump in my throat. I reach for Cal again, desperately and he holds me at arms-length, looking me in the eye. “Annaliese, you’re possessed”. What does he mean? I mean, obviously, something isn’t quite right at the moment. But there’s no way I’m _possessed._ “No, I’m not” I reply. “ _Yes,_ you are” “But it’s _me._ I’m talking to you. Cal, I’m _scared_. I don’t want to hurt anyone. I don’t want to hurt _you_. I love you. Please believe me. I’m not possessed” I sob. “You’ve got control because you’re fully conscious” Cal says. “When you fall asleep, whatever this is is taking control of you. At the moment it’s giving you powers, it’s making you stronger. It’s in your locket. I need you to take off the locket”. I shake as I remove the locket from around my neck and drop it to the ground. Immediately I feel the power leave me and my energy levels drop to the point I feel like I’m about to pass out. Cal steadies me and then sits me down, leaning me against the wall of the church. I take some deep breaths. Cal pulls me into a hug. “I killed the Guards” I say. “I know… I know” Cal says. We don’t move for a few minutes and then Cal gets up and gives me his hand. “Come on. We need to sort out what we’re going to do”. I take his hand and he pulls me up. “We’re going to need to go to the church office” Cal says. I nod. Cal picks up the locket. “And we’re going to need _this_ ”.

We go into the church and walk around the gaping hole in the floor. I look down into it, trying to see the Guards that fell into it, but it seems to go down for miles and I can’t see the bottom. Cal and I head upstairs to the office. As soon as we’re in the office, Cal puts the locket down. The cupboard door is open. I hunker down and look inside and see that it’s closed up at the back. The corridor I created is gone. Cal draws the curtains in the room. I go to his side and we sit down on the swivel chairs. Cal gets some paper out of the printer. “What are we going to do?” I ask. “We’re going to try and find out who this spirit is and what it wants” Cal says. “I don’t understand. I’ve had the locket in my hands before and I haven’t suddenly had powers” “I think you would have had the powers but didn’t have any reason to use them. Just now you were being chased by the Guards and you needed to defend yourself” “How long have you known this was what was going on?” “I only found out for definite at the same time as you. I’ve had my suspicions based on stuff I’ve picked up on. Like what we both said about the paintings. And then last night you seemed to wake up, but you were completely unresponsive, and you were holding onto the locket so tight that I really struggled to get it out of your grip. And then I managed to wake you up but then you starting having a seizure, which stopped the instant I got the locket out of your hand. So that convinced me. I didn’t want to take you to the hospital because I couldn’t just say to the doctors that I thought you were possessed. But I was scared, and you stopped breathing and I didn’t know what to do for the best”. “At least we know I’m not a terrible person now” “I always knew that” Cal replies. “Your soul has been pure enough to take control when you’ve been wearing or holding the locket whilst you’ve been awake. There are people who would have lost control even when they’re fully conscious”. I nod. I guess that makes me feel better. “So, how are we going to find out about this spirit?” I ask. “We’re going to need to talk to it. It’s dangerous and we need to try and find a way to ensure it doesn’t take over. But I think that’s what we have to do, to find out what it wants and what we can do to stop anything else from happening” “Can’t we just destroy the locket?” “I believe that doing that will release the spirit. At the moment it’s contained in there. Destroying the locket could mean it becomes free to possess whoever it chooses… I think we need to hold the locket at the same time. That means the power will spread between both of us, which will hopefully reduce the chance of either of us getting hurt. And then we’ll see if the spirit will communicate with us” Cal says. He picks up the locket and holds it in his open palm, sitting cross-legged on the floor. “Are you ready?” he asks. I sit on the floor and place my hand on top of the locket.

“Do you feel anything?” Cal asks. “It’s not as strong as before, but yes” I say. Cal looks at the window and focuses, and the glass cracks down the middle in a jagged line. “Ok. We’re on the right track” Cal says. “Spirit, can you talk to us?” I ask. Nothing. Cal picks up some paper and places it on the floor next to us. “Let’s close our eyes and try and focus” Cal says. “But we both need to make sure we stay alert, and fully conscious”. I close my eyes. I focus on the power I feel and the subtle burning sensation I feel throughout my body. I focus on everything that’s happened. I think about the Guards I killed. I focus with all my strength, but nothing happens. I open my eyes and so does Cal. “This isn’t working” he says. “What do we do now?” I ask. “I’ve got a plan… but I have a feeling you’re not going to like it very much” “What?” “I think one of us needs to be fully possessed. So, one of us has to be unconscious or asleep so the spirit can take over. Both of us will be holding the locket so the power will still be spread between us, but it might enable the spirit to communicate through one of us. I don’t know… it might be too risky”. “It’s worth a try. But I don’t feel like I could just fall asleep at the moment” “No, me neither… I think we’re going to have to try something else” “Find something to knock me out with”. Cal shakes his head. “I’m not going to hurt you… The best thing I can think of is stopping you from being able to breathe until you pass out. That shouldn’t do any damage” “Ok” I nod. I’m terrified but I haven’t got time to be. I need to try this. “I’m going to put the locket on you” Cal says, and he keeps tight hold of it once it’s around my neck. Then he takes the hand that he’s holding it with and pinches my nose shut. And then his other hand covers my mouth. After a few moments I’m squirming, trying to get out of his grip but he’s stronger than me. I try to relax, try to trust him, but I can’t breathe. And soon I’m out.


	14. Chapter 14

_Annaliese goes limp in Cal’s arms and he feels a pang of guilt. But he knows this is necessary. Cal keeps hold of the locket as he lets go of Annaliese, holding onto her shoulder to keep her upright, and she takes in a deep breath._ **Please let this work** _Cal prays. Annaliese’s eyes snap open. Her eyes are glazed over and unblinking. “I need you to talk to me. Please” Cal says. The spirit doesn’t speak at first… and then quietly murmurs “I don’t want to talk”. “How about drawing?” Cal asks, pushing some paper towards Annaliese. She picks up some pens and begins to draw a person in rapid speed. Cal can see that’s it’s a boy in his teens. He appears to be Asian and has black hair tied in a ponytail. “Is this you?” Cal asks and Annaliese nods. She writes a name above the boy - Ishmoln. “Is that your name?” Cal asks and Annaliese nods again. She draws the boy painting murals on rocks in a rural location. She draws a woman, middle-aged, with long black hair and frown lines. “Who’s this?” “My mother”. Annaliese draws a group of boys inflicting torture on Ishmoln throughout the years. She draws Ishmoln’s increasing frustration and rage. She draws Ishmoln’s retaliation and the killing of the leader of the group of the boys in self-defence, before the group proceed to kill Ishmoln. She draws Ishmoln’s spirit lingering, lost… she draws his mother’s sorrow. The group of boys do not get into any trouble but Ishmoln’s name is hated and his works of art are painted over. Ishmoln’s mother moves away and the spirit follows her. It flows into the locket she creates, and she sells it to Megan and Ruairi O’Ceallaigh, unaware of the spirit. They package it up and send it over to Ireland for their daughter – Annaliese. “Is this what happened to you?” Cal asks. Annaliese nods. “I can understand your anger” “All I want is my mother” Annaliese says. Her voice sounds weak and almost scared. “How can we get you to her?” Cal asks. “I have the power to take us to her village. It requires a large amount of energy and with only one host, it would surely burn out the body. If I have two of you, I may be able to do it without causing a significant amount of harm” “You’ve got both of us” “I need to take you both fully”. Cal hesitates. “How can I trust you?” “If you help me find my mother, I will repay you. It is all I want” “You’ve tried to kill me before” “I did not know you would be willing to help me. I can see now that you are” “How do you want to go about this?” “I need you to let go of the locket and allow me to use my power to render you unconscious, which will then enable me to fully inhabit both of you and attempt to take us to my mother”. Cal nods. “Alright”. He lets go of the locket and Annaliese puts her hand on his shoulder and Cal falls unconscious instantly. Annaliese takes Cal’s hand and places it back on the locket and in an eyeblink they are surrounded by mountains, the sun beaming down on them. Ishmoln opens all four of his eyes and takes in his surroundings. He removes the locket from around Annaliese’s neck and ensures Cal is still holding onto it. If he’s back here he would rather be in the body of a man than a young girl, regardless of how weak and pathetic the man appears. As soon as the locket is removed from Annaliese’s neck, her body goes still and Ishmoln only has one body now. Cal puts the locket around his neck. It’s time for revenge._


	15. Chapter 15

I open my eyes and I’m on hard ground. I look around and I’m in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by mountains. Where am I? Where’s Cal? I sit up, panic rising through me and I see Cal walking in the distance. “Cal!” I shout. He turns his head towards me but keeps walking. I get to my feet, my legs wobbly and, though I feel lightheaded and unsteady, I begin to run after him. He doesn’t run from me, but he doesn’t stop for me to catch up either. Where is he going? “Cal!” I scream. I increase my pace and manage to catch up with him, nearly collapsing. “What are you doing? Are you ok?”. I see the locket around his neck. “Oh no… Cal, please” “My name is Ishmoln” Cal says. “Ishmoln… I need Cal back. What’s going on?” “I’m here to find my mother”. I take hold of the locket around Cal’s neck and power floods through me. I see Ishmoln’s life and memories flicker before me like I’m flicking through the pages of a scrapbook. “We’re in your old village?” I ask. “Yes. And I am going to do one last thing before I go and find my mother” “What’s that?” “I’m going to destroy those who killed me. I am going to make them pay”. I can’t let this happen. “Ishmoln… don’t… don’t do this. We need to get you to your mother” “We can go to her as soon as I have my revenge” “You don’t have to do this. You’re better than this. I know they took everything from you, but don’t stoop to their level” “I already have. I am a demon. I have hurt you and the people closest to you. Why would you stop me from doing this?”. There are a group of boys a few years older than me up ahead. “They are here”. We walk up to the boys. They say something to us, but they’re speaking their own language so I can’t understand. But Ishmoln understands. He speaks back to them in his native language. The boys snicker and laugh. Cal’s eyes glow red and the boys take a step back, panic showing in their eyes. The locket burns my palm and I cry out in pain, but I keep hold of it. Cal raises his hand slowly. “Ishmoln, you don’t need to do this!” I cry. I close my eyes and push my own power into the locket, squeezing it so tight that it burns through my skin. _Don’t do this. Don’t do this. Don’t do this._ Cal’s hand lowers and he looks at me. I look him in the eye. _Don’t do this._ Cal nods, and we walk away. The boys don’t say a word. They just stand there, staring. We walk for a long time in silence. “That was brave of you Ishmoln” I say. “I don’t think this will mean anything to you… but I’m proud of you”. Cal nods. “It means a lot. Thank you Annaliese. I truly am sorry for all the pain I have caused you”.

After a while, we approach a new village. “Is this where your mother is?” “I hope she is still here. And your parents will be here too”. What on earth are they going to think? “I reckon I’ll have to come and live out here. There’s no way I can go back to Ireland after everything’s that’s happened. I’ll be locked up for the rest of my life” I say. “I’ll take care of that” Ishmoln replies.

Suddenly I see my parents up ahead with a few women. They look up when they see Cal and I approach and literally drop what they’re doing. “Annaliese?” Mum asks, running over to me. Dad runs over as well. “We got a phone call saying what happened at the church. _What the hell_ is going on?” Dad demands. “It’s going to sound crazy but there’s a spirit in the locket you gave me. Every time I held it in the night it took control of me when I was asleep. His name’s Ishmoln, he’s the son of the lady who gave you the locket. We have to find her!” “Slow down, slow down” Mum says. “Cal, what is she talking about?”. “That’s not Cal” I say. “Well, it is… but Ishmoln’s in control” “What do you mean? Caleb?” Mum asks, shaking Cal’s shoulder. “Caleb is completely fine” Ishmoln says. “Do you know where I can find my mother?” “Elensha is in her shack. Ruairi, go and find her” Mum says. Dad hurries off and Mum stares at us. “I don’t know what to say” she says weakly. “It’s going to be ok” I say, though I don’t know if I really believe that. Cal puts his hand on my shoulder and squeezes it slightly. I wonder if Cal has any awareness right now. I hope he’s alright. Dad comes hurrying back with Elensha. She’s trembling as she approaches us. Ishmoln speaks to her in their language. Elensha starts to sob. “Thank you” she says to me. “Thank you for bringing me back my boy”. I tear up as well. Ishmoln starts speaking English. “If you wear the locket” he says to Elensha “then I will be with you always. I have been given power like you cannot imagine but we do not need to use it. We can live here, both of us together. You can talk to me, even though you will not see me in flesh”. Elensha nods. Cal slowly takes off the locket and puts it around Elensha’s neck. The second he lets go of it he collapses to the ground. “Cal?” I kneel at his side, my hand on his shoulder. I put my fingers on his neck to check his pulse but there’s nothing. “No… no, no, no, please” I beg. Dad starts CPR and I burst into tears. Elensha is muttering to herself… or to Ishmoln, I can’t tell. Dad punches Cal in the chest and I bite down on my bottom lip to keep myself from screaming. Elensha is still going on and on, getting slightly louder now. It sounds like she’s praying but she’s speaking in her own language, so I don’t have a clue what she’s going on about. Dad stops CPR, exhausted and Mum takes over. It’s not working. “How long was Ishmoln in his body?” Mum asks. “I… I don’t know… he was in me… I don’t know what happened”. Mum keeps going with the CPR but it’s clear that it’s doing no good whatsoever. He’s gone. My best friend in the world, the one person I could always depend on. He’s gone. Mum stops and looks to me and then to Dad and shakes her head, tears running down her face. I rest my head on Cal’s chest, crying so much that it hurts. _Please let him come back. Please. Please. Please._

And then there’s a bright light and I look up and Elensha’s eyes are glowing gold, and there’s a heat radiating out and engulfing us. And everything goes black.


	16. Chapter 16

I open my eyes and take in a deep breath. I’m in my room. I’m in my room in Canterbury House. How did I get here? I sit up, looking around me in a daze. My heart feels like it’s just dropped as I remember Cal… is he really gone? Tears start running down my face as I think of everything that’s happened. I sit there on my bed, not moving for a few moments. And then I pick up my phone. The date says 4th June 2019 … it’s my birthday. Again. A message comes through from Cal and my heart skips a beat. I read it, my hands shaking.

_Happy 15 th Birthday Annaliese xx_

He’s alive. He’s really alive. I lie back on my bed, crying in a mixture of thankfulness, happiness, but I’m also just overwhelmed. Did I dream everything that happened? Or did Ishmoln do something to bring us back? I get up, dressing into my school uniform. I’m nervous to go downstairs, but I need to hurry up or it will be time for morning registration. I go downstairs slowly. The lounge door is shut. I open it and I’m met with party poppers and streamers and my house group shouting ‘Happy Birthday Annaliese!”. The decorations are the same. The stack of presents is the same. “Thank you so much” I say, as Fiona runs up to hug me. I hug her tightly and I hug the rest of the house group too, even Shannon. She looks a bit confused when I go to give her a hug but nonetheless she hugs me back. We have our pancakes with whipped cream and strawberries, and I start opening my presents. They are all the same as before and I’m still so thankful for each one, even Shannon’s love-heart sweets. “We can share these later” I say to her. She smiles softly. And then there’s the last present wrapped in baby blue paper. I tense, but it’s a different shape to last time. I open it up and it’s two cards. I read the first one.

_A very Happy 15 th Birthday to our beautiful daughter Annaliese. We love you so much and are so proud of you. We wanted to surprise you by coming home early. Although we cannot be with you today, we trust you will have an amazing day with your friends and Cal. We will be with you tomorrow and we’ve got some special plans for this weekend for you and your friends. _

_All the love in the world from Mum and Dad._

I tear up. “My parents are going to be coming home” I say. As much as I love school and boarding here with my best friends, I think I need my parents right now. I can’t wait for them to come home. I’m guessing, like me, they still remember everything about what’s happened. I wonder if Cal remembers too. The second card contains two small paintings. The first is a painting of the mountains in the village under the sunset. And I’m there, my hair blowing in my eyes and the locket around my neck. The second one is the same background but this time it’s Elensha with the locket around her neck and the spirit of Ishmoln stands beside her, holding her hand. There’s a signature and, without being able to read what it says, I know it’s from Ishmoln. I smile. “Who’s that?” Fiona asks, pointing at Elensha and Ishmoln. “Just some friends of my parents in the village” I say.

I go to school and it’s so weird being here. The paintings are gone from the corridors of Main Block. Everything just feels normal. At lunch I sit with Fiona, Aoife and Brooklyn like I usually do, but I call Shannon over as well. She looks surprised, but she comes and sits beside me. I share out my sweets. “How’s your birthday going?” Shannon asks. “It’s going really well” I reply.

After lunch, Shannon, Aoife and Brooklyn go to their Geography class and Fiona and I have History. Fiona and I go to the girls’ toilets before class to take selfies. “Are you and Shannon actually getting on for once?” Fiona asks. “Yeah… I don’t think she’s all bad. I don’t know if we’ll be the best of friends, but I’d like to try and get to know her better”. Fiona scrolls through the photos we’ve just taken and then accidentally scrolls one too many and the photo from before appears. She clicks off it quickly. “Oh God… did you see that?” she asks. “Yeah, but it’s ok” “I’m not planning on sending it to anyone. I just… I guess I just wanted to feel attractive… but I’m going to delete it”. I silently sigh in relief when she deletes the photo.

After History, we have drama. All of us from Canterbury are in the same class for drama. I get paired with Shannon for an improvisation challenge. We’ve been paired together before in several of our subjects and it’s never gone particularly well, but today it’s working great. “Annaliese?” she asks as we take a quick water break. “Yeah?” “I… I just wanted to say I’m sorry for being… you know… not very nice to you over the years”. I give her a hug. “It’s ok” “No, it’s not. You never deserved anything I said to you. I don’t know why I’m saying this, but I felt like I had to be like that… because I saw you making friends so easily and everyone liking you, and I felt like you wouldn’t want me as a friend. I was so scared about being bullied when I started here, and so I thought I could avoid that by being a bully. And I hate who I am. No one here likes me, and I know that’s because of the way I’ve acted. I just want you to know that I’m going to really make an effort to change”. “I’d love to have you as a friend” I say and Shannon smiles. “And I’d love to have you as a friend” she replies. I grin and squeeze her shoulder.

Our last lesson of the day is science and we’re all together again. I start to feel anxious as I think about seeing Cal. Is he going to be ok? I still don’t know if he remembers anything. Last time I saw him, he was dead. I choke on a sob. Fiona turns to me. “Annaliese?”. She puts her hand on my shoulder. I’ve started crying. “Hey, what’s wrong?” Shannon asks, squeezing my hand. “Are you ok?” Brooklyn asks. “It’s nothing… I’m just… I’m so thankful to have you guys” I say. That’s not a lie at all, but I can never tell them the truth about what’s happened. Even though they’re my best friends… it’s not something that’s exactly believable. I smile reassuringly at my friends. I really am so thankful for them.

I go to Canterbury House after school and get changed. And now it’s time to see Cal. I walk across the school grounds and go up to Cal’s back gate. He’s in the garden. He’s really ok. He’s really alive.

I take a deep breath and open the gate.


	17. Chapter 17

Cal looks up when he sees me. We hug and he says “Happy birthday” just like last time. But I stay clinging onto him, a lump forming in my throat, and an ache in my chest. Cal squeezes my shoulder gently. I try not to cry, and then I try to cry quietly but I can’t contain it. Cal pulls back slightly and wipes away my tears with his thumb. “I thought you were gone forever” I gasp, and Cal sits me down on a chair and pulls another chair close so he can sit in front of me and hold my hands. “It’s ok… everyone’s safe. Everything’s back to how it was” “Do you know what happened? What’s the last thing you remember?” I ask. “I had to let Ishmoln take me over, so he had enough energy to take us to the village. That’s the last thing I _remember,_ but your parents phoned, and they filled me in on everything else that happened. Ishmoln was able to restore everything to how it was before” “My parents are coming home tomorrow….I think it’s only us four that remember everything” I say. “That’s how it seems. How are Fiona and Shannon?” “Fiona had still taken the photo, but she was scrolling through her photos and I saw it, so she decided it was best to delete it… and Shannon and I talked… and we’re friends now. She apologised for the way she’s treated me, and I forgave her” “That’s great” “I’m so scared that this is a dream… and I’m still in the village and you’re gone” “I promise you, I’m here, and I’m alright. None of this makes much sense, but it’s the 4th of June, and it’s your birthday, and all that stuff has gone away. We can continue with our normal lives. But I know it’s still there in your mind, and it’s not going to be easy to just forget about it. But you’re safe, and I’m safe, and your parents and your friends are safe”. I nod. I wipe my eyes. I drink some lemonade and look to my present. “Is the present the same?” I ask. “Why don’t you open it up and see?” Cal asks. It is the same. And I’m still so thankful for it. I grin. “I’m going to learn to paint like Ishmoln” I say. “I think you paint wonderfully already” Cal replies.

The rest of the day goes pretty much the same as before, though Shannon comes along with us to Engage. The next day my parents arrive home and Cal and I help them unpack. It’s so weird being home. I haven’t been home in nearly a year. We allowed some students from the local university to rent our rooms for a lower cost than the student accommodation, but the four students have gone home for the summer already, and they’re moving on to somewhere new now, so our house is just ours again. “Your fees are paid till September so it’s completely up to you whether you board for the rest of the term and some of the summer or if you want to be at home” Mum says. I think I’ll stay boarding until term ends and then come home for the summer. School is only about 45 minutes on the bus from home but a lie in in the morning is always nice. But I’m so happy that my parents are here, and I’ve got my home to go to when I need it.

After we’ve finished unpacking, we sit down for a drink. I lean against the back of the sofa, letting my cheek brush against the fabric and inhaling home. “You two have been through so much” Mum says to Cal and me. “Is there anything we can do to help you? We’re here now and we’re not going anywhere. Anything you need… we can get through this together. Are you both ok?”. “I’m just glad you’re here” I say. “And that we’re all alright. But it’s going to be weird for a while. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get over the fact that I actually killed people… even though they’re presumably ok now, I still feel so guilty” I say tearfully. Mum hugs me. “You can’t blame yourself for that. You’ve been so strong throughout all this”. Dad hugs me too and then we look to Cal. He looks a bit wobbly, like he’s trying not to cry. I know he hates crying. “I think I’ll try and get some time off work at some point… It’s going to be stressful at work. I always knew this sort of thing existed… but now having first-hand experience… it’s a bit of a shock… and obviously dying wasn’t too fun either” Cal says. He wipes his eyes with the back of his hand, trying to stop the tears. I sit beside him and hug him. “I’m so thankful to you for everything” I say. “You knew something was up and you believed me and trusted me through everything. Things would have been so different if I didn’t have you by my side… I love you so much” “I love you too” Cal says. Mum and Dad hug us both, and I know that everything is going to be alright.

On Saturday Mum and Dad treat Fiona, Aoife, Brooklyn, Shannon and I to a day at Adventure Planet, a theme park about an hour’s drive away. We’ve got a 7-seater car so we all go up together and sing along to my Anne-Marie, Taylor Swift, Little Mix and Rita Ora albums. We go on the tallest and scariest rides and have burgers for lunch. It’s the best day of my whole life. On Sunday we take Cal to lunch and we have pizza and chocolate ice-cream sundaes. Then we go to Church for Movie Night and watch Joseph: King of Dreams. I look around at the most important people in my life – Mum, Dad, Cal, Fiona, Shannon, Aoife and Brooklyn, and I smile. I have everything I could ever want. It’s not going to be easy dealing with what’s happened, but I know I’m going to get through it.

After the movie I hug my parent’s goodbye and head to Canterbury House. I get into my pyjamas and chill out with the girls for a bit, and then I get to bed. I pin Ishmoln’s paintings up on the wall above my headboard. I look at myself in the painting and then I look at Elensha and Ishmoln together, reunited, and I smile.


End file.
